Profession, maid: a photographic film

The exploitation of immigrant workers is a theme we are all familiar with. Many of us have heard of the harsh working conditions faced by thousands of young Asian women in, for instance, some of the Gulf states. What we may not know is how, over the last years, the phenomenon has turned into a real profession, with proper schools training young Filipinos about to migrate to Saudi Arabia or Hong Kong to become accomplished domestic servants. In October 2001 Le Monde diplomatique ran an investigation by Julien Brygo in the Philippines, “Filipino maids for export”. We have now made available — open access — an exclusive film based on the photographs and interviews gathered for this article.

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